Page 40 - BusinessWest January 10, 2022

38 BEGLEY WEBSTER
1284 Elm St., Suite 3, West Springfield, MA 01089 (413) 733-1400; www.begleywebster.com
38 CASARTELLO & MURPHY P.C.
121 State St., Suite 203, Springfield, MA 01103 (413) 781-4700; www.cmattys.net
38 GOLDSMITH, KATZ, ARGENIO P.C.
1350 Main St., Suite 1505, Springfield, MA 01103 (413) 737-5996; www.gkalawfirm.com
43 J.M. DISCENZA LAW, LLC
330 Whitney Ave., Suite 430, Holyoke, MA 01040 (413) 567-8411
43 THE LAW OFFICES OF H.W. PFABÉ East Longmeadow, MA 01028
(413) 426-3896; wwwpfabelaw.com
43 W. ROCKNE PALMER
48 East Silver St., Suite 1, Westfield, MA 01085 (413) 562-4166
Labor Law
entitled to 12 weeks of paid-leave benefits, and up to 14 weeks if an employee experiences
a serious health condition that occurs during a pregnancy.
This program is similar to the Massachusetts Paid Family and
Medical Leave program, which went live at the beginning of last year. The Department of Family and Medical Leave published data stating that the department approved 43,440 applications between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2021. Benefits totaling $167,915,781 were paid out during this time. This was before employees could take PFML to care for family members, which became available on July 1.
Employee Mobility: Tackling the Labor Shortage
A record 4.4. million Americans quit their jobs in September 2021. The high quit rates were commonly dubbed the ‘Great Resig- nation,’ and made it clear that Americans are switching jobs for bet- ter pay, starting their own businesses, or continuing to struggle with child care and school schedules.
As the pandemic lingers, it’s likely that the quit rates will remain high for the next several months. As a result, employers will need to raise wages and/or offer more lucrative benefit packages to attract and retain talent. Businesses should also consider offering employ- ees who do not physically need to be in the office every day some sort of a hybrid work-from-home schedule, a model that has dra- matically increased in popularity over the last year. u
John Gannon and Meaghan Murphy are attorneys at the firm Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C., in Springfield; (413) 737-4753;
[email protected]; [email protected]
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BOBROWSKI & VICKERY, LLC
27 Pray St., Amherst, MA 01002
(413) 992-2915; www.pioneervalleylaw.com
GELINAS & LEFEBVRE P.C.
554 Grattan St., Chicopee, MA 01020 (413) 532-0010; www.attorneysgl.com
JEREMY D. BLOCK, ATTORNEY AT LAW
299 Walnut St., Agawam, MA 01001 (413) 348-8824; www.jdblocklaw.com
KC LAW
30 Court St., Suite 1, Westfield, MA 01085 (413) 251-1010; www.kctrialattorney.com
MARTINELLI LAW LLC
1441 Main St., Suite 905, Springfield, MA 01103 (413) 317-7274; gmartinellilaw.com
LAW FIRM
LAW FIRMS
RANKED BY NUMBER OF LAWYERS
NUMBER OF LAWYERS
2
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1
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AREAS OF PRACTICE / DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES
Divorce and family law; commercial and residential real estate; Social Security disability appeals; personal injury; estate planning
Personal injury; criminal and civil litigation; commercial litigation; workers’ comp; business law; auto accidents
Personal injury; divorce and family law; bankruptcy; landlord/tenant; criminal law; business law; estate planning; labor law; real estate
Estate planning; estate settlement
Intellectual property; patents; trademarks; copyright; trade secrets; non-disclosure agreements; medical devices; IP licensing; entertainment law; unfair competition
Employment law (discrimination defense); landlord-tenant; trademark law; legislative drafting; land use; elder law; estate planning
Personal injury; business and corporate law; commercial and residential real estate; estate planning; elder law and estate administration; business acquisitions and franchises; bankruptcy and litigation
Estate planning; real estate
Personal injury; business and civil litigation; medical malpractice; business formation; claims of death benefits; consumer-protection claims; contractor disputes; insurance-agency malpractice; landlord/tenant matters; legal malpractice; unfair trade practices/93A
Corporate and real estate financing law and in-business transactions, i.e.,mergers and acquisitions
Probate; personal injury; litigation; real estate; family law; divorce; criminal law
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program, employees are
Cybersecurity
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laptop, etc., or on an e-mail server.
If you comply with this regulation, an
employee’s lost laptop or a compromised e-mail account will not impact consumers
or raise the risk of identity theft because that sensitive information should be inaccessible to unauthorized parties. Encryption can be a simple process — in some cases, it’s a matter of a few well-placed clicks. Let this year be the one you figure it out.
If you have already enabled encryption
on relevant devices and accounts, and have policies requiring the encryption of personal information, congratulations. After you pat yourself on the back, make sure your employ- ees are aware of these policies and that they knew how and when to make use of these safeguards.
Train on Phishing
Massachusetts’s data-security regulations require employee training as both an enumer- ated administrative and technical safeguard. This is because internal policies regarding access to use of, and the transportation of, personal information required by 201 CMR 17 are of limited use if they are not consistently followed company-wide.
Similarly, the best malware protection and server encryption will not protect a business whose employees hand over the proverbial keys to the kingdom by providing their cre- dentials or downloading malware by clicking a link in a phishing e-mail.
Because individuals responding to phish- ing e-mails is a known vulnerability, it is a use- ful place to start training. Phishing, which can take the form of e-mails or phone calls, is the fraudulent practice of attempting to obtain personal information or other valuable data from a person by pretending to be a reputable, and trusted, third party. Training employees to recognize, avoid, and report these scams is an initial step (and one endorsed by the FTC) to improving your cybersecurity hygiene.
While other safeguards in 201 CMR 17 and the Attorney General’s Compliance Checklist (like two-factor authentication) are important considerations, if you inventory your personal information, enable and use encryption, and train yourself and your employees to avoid phishing scams, you will be well on your way to a breach-free January and a compliant 2022. u
Lauren Ostberg is an attorney in Bulkley Richardson’s cybersecurity group; (413) 272- 6282.
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